But calorie for calorie (and carb for carb), this meager amount is completely negligible compared to what you would get from real food.

For all intents and purposes, brown rice syrup is “empty” calories. That is, plenty of energy with virtually no essential nutrients.

Bottom Line: Rice syrup contains a lot of energy with almost no essential nutrients. In other words, it is “empty” calories like most refined sugars.

Is Glucose Healthier Than Fructose?
There is an ongoing debate about added sugar and exactly why it causes harm.

Some think it’s merely because of empty calories and that it can be bad for the teeth.

However … there is now compelling evidence that its harmful effects go way beyond that, and this appears to be primarily due to the fructose in it.

Whereas glucose can be metabolized by every cell in the body, fructose can only be metabolized by the liver (8).

In the context of an unhealthy Western diet, this can be a complete disaster.

The fructose gets turned into fat, which either lodges in the liver (causing fatty liver and insulin resistance) or is shipped out, raising blood triglycerides (9, 10, 11).

Without getting into the gory details, these metabolic problems can lead to all sorts of diseases.

However… glucose can be metabolized by all of the body’s cells, so it shouldn’t have the same negative effects on liver function.

This is pretty much the only positive thing to be said about brown rice syrup. It doesn’t contain fructose, only glucose.

Keep in mind that none of this applies to fruit, which are healthy foods. They contain small amounts of fructose, but also plenty of nutrients and fiber.

Bottom Line: There is no fructose in rice syrup, so it shouldn’t have the same negative effects on liver function and metabolic health as regular sugar.

Brown Rice Syrup Has a High Glycemic Index, Which Can be a Huge Problem
The glycemic index (GI) is a measure of how quickly foods raise blood sugar.

There is a lot of evidence that eating a lot of high GI foods is associated with obesity and many diseases (12, 13).

When we eat high GI foods, blood sugar and insulin levels go up rapidly and may “crash” later, leading to hunger and cravings (14).

There are some claims about rice syrup having a Glycemic Index of 25, which is extremely low.

However… this number seems to be pulled out of thin air and is completely wrong. It doesn’t even make sense because rice syrup is pretty much 100 percent easily digestible glucose.

According to the Sydney University GI database, Rice Syrup has a glycemic index of 98, which is extremely high (15).

It is much higher than table sugar (GI of 60-70) and higher than almost any other sweetener on the market!

If you eat rice syrup, then it is highly likely to lead to rapid spikes in blood sugar.

Bottom Line: Rice syrup has a glycemic index of 98, which is higher than almost every other sweetener on the market. This can be a huge problem.

Rice Syrup and Arsenic – Should You be Concerned?
Arsenic is a toxic chemical that is often found in trace amounts in some foods… including rice and rice syrups.

One study looked at the arsenic content of organic brown rice syrup. They tested isolated syrups, as well as products sweetened with rice syrup, including infant formulas (16).

They found significant levels of arsenic in the products. The formulas had 20 times the total arsenic concentrations of the ones that weren’t sweetened with rice syrup.

However, the FDA claims that the amounts are too low to be harmful (17). But keep in mind that the FDA also says high fructose corn syrup and soybean oil is safe, so I would take their endorsement with a big grain of salt.

Bottom Line: Significant amounts of arsenic have been found in rice syrups and products sweetened with them. This is a potential cause for concern.

Should You be Eating Brown Rice (Malt) Syrup?
Unfortunately, there is no human study that actually feeds rice syrup to humans and sees what happens.

However… we do know that it has a very high glycemic index and essentially no nutrients. There is also a risk of arsenic contamination.

Though I had never heard of brown-rice syrup, I'm glad to be informed before I run into it. I'm sure that many people won't like reading the negatives about fructose because it puts both honey and agave syrup into the "bad" category.

But I also have to mention that the sugar alternatives provided in the link contain two sugar alcohols which can come with their own negative side effects. I'd recommend looking them up before trying them. The only time I tried a product that contained xylitol I ended up throwing it away after discovering that it was the cause of both insomnia and nightmares.